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“You lived your entire life eaten up with jealousy over everything Matthew was,” Beckett stated.
“Did I say you could talk? Nobody said you could talk,” Chad screamed, stepping closer. “No one realized how smart I was. I got the brains, you see. They might’ve gotten the looks, but I was smarter. That’s what’s important. Nobody cared about that, though. Dad ridiculed me for every idea I had. He shot down deal after deal I ever brought to him. Which just reinforced how my parents always favored Matt and Anna. Those two were all they ever talked about—Anna this, Matt that. They used to drone on about them until I couldn’t stand it. Even when I became a record producer, my father bragged about Matt and how he didn’t need to work very hard at anything. He didn’t see Matt’s flaws, his stupidity, or his ineffectiveness at holding onto money. No, it was Matt’s charm that would always win the day. Same with Anna. She got her nursing degree, and you would have thought the woman entered sainthood to hear my mother tell it. From that point on, Anna could do no wrong. The funny thing is Anna was the worst of the lot. She could plaster a smile on her face while she twisted the knife in your back.”
“You hated her.”
“Damn right I did. I hated them all for never giving me my due. For two decades, I’ve been the only one left standing. My only mistake was getting talked into hiring another wannabe private investigator. I should’ve known better than to let Kate Ashcroft wrap me around her little finger. But she’s a pretty face and well-known with too many connections to ignore.”
“And you were drunk, trying to impress her.”
“That might be true,” Chad admitted with a sly smile. “But I thought Lucien and that bimbo wife he’s married to would take my money and do a cursory walkthrough of the investigation in a box. I even gave them the damn box. I gave them a hundred grand to do nothing. But no, they had to stick their noses into places they shouldn’t have gone.”
“You killed Anna and Mack,” Beckett charged.
“Me? No. I set it into motion, though, devised a brilliant plan. You want to learn more about your siblings? I’ll let you meet them. How would that be? I’ll send you to the hereafter, the same place I put the others.” He took out a small revolver from his jacket pocket, threw his arm out, and backhanded Beckett across the face with the gun. “Nobody messes with my trust fund. Nobody.”
Beckett took the first slap, but when Chad tried it again, he whipped his hand out from behind to block the blow. He took hold of Chad’s wrist and bent it back until he dropped the gun. Getting to his feet and towering over the guy, he forced Chad onto the bed. He wrapped his fingers across his throat. “Now you listen to me, you little weasel. We found Vincent and Elliott living in South Africa. If you start talking and name names tonight, the prosecution might go easier on you. Otherwise, you’re looking at spending the rest of your miserable life in prison.”
“Who are you? What is this? A shakedown? You’re not getting a dime out of me.”
“You stupid jerk. This isn’t about money. This is about your plot to do away with your father, mother, sister, and brother so you could inherit everything.”
“You’ll have to prove it. I didn’t lay a hand on their heads, not one.”
“Orchestrating it is the same as murder-for-hire. How much did you slip Deming under the table to give you the meds you needed to make sure your father died of a heart attack?”
Lucien and Birk entered the room.
But it was Lucien who pointed to the camera hidden behind a painting. “We have it all on video. Everything from the lodge to you sending Samson to knock out Beckett or the man you know as Julian.”
“He’s not Frank’s son?”
“Nope. You can let him up now,” Birk stated, sitting down next to Chad. “Although Frank Pollock may have other children out there, Beckett isn’t one of them.”
Realization dawned on Chad as he sat up, holding his throat, “You tricked me. This is entrapment.”
“We did trick you,” Lucien confessed. “The trick might be kind of sophomoric for grown men, but the police are very real. We’re working with the former county sheriff. That man is in South Africa tonight—although they’re ten hours ahead—talking to Vincent. If Vince beats you to the truth, he’ll get the best deal available and leave you stranded in the cold to face the death penalty. It seems murder-for-hire is frowned upon, even when you have a fat trust fund at stake.”
Brogan joined them in the cabin along with Jade, Kelly, and Samson. “I like where you’re sitting, Chad. Not bad for a bimbo.”
Chad’s eyes flashed around the room. Going from one face to the other, he realized defeat. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything,” Beckett snarled.
Brogan was more diplomatic. “I’ll get it started. You mentioned Matt was tall. How tall was he?”
“What does that have to do with anything? I’m tired. I need to go to bed now.”
“Sorry, but bedtime will have to wait,” Lucien said. “We want to know what happened that morning. And we’re not leaving this cabin until we do. Either you talk, or Vincent does from halfway across the world. We don’t care which one of you finally decides to tell the truth, but we’re getting answers.”
Chad sucked in a deep breath, letting the air escape. “Very well. Matt was the shooter. There. Now let me go back to my cabin.”
“Did Matthew wear size thirteen shoes?” Brogan asked.
“Yeah. I guess. That sounds about right. Why?”
Lucien scrubbed a hand over his face, beginning to lose patience. “Because every detail is important. It has to match whatever story Vince gives the police. You put Matthew up to killing Anna and Mack for her share of the trust. Mack’s family was a mess. Nobody cared about him. So you swooped in like a vulture and made off with the entire estate. That’s what you did, right??”
When Chad said nothing, Lucien ran a hand through his hair and waited a beat before dropping another zinger. “When did you decide Matthew had to go? Did he make the mistake of mentioning that he couldn’t live with himself for what he’d done to Anna and wanted to go to the authorities to make things right? You couldn’t let him do that after you’re the one who urged him on.”
